Unleash the Power of Oxytocin Love Hormone

Oxytocin Linked to Muscle Regeneration and Aging

Researchers have found another unexpected benefit of oxytocin – the hormone commonly associated with social functioning has now been discovered to play a possible role in the regeneration of muscles in aging mammals.

A few other biochemical factors in blood have been connected to aging and disease in recent years, but oxytocin is the first anti-aging molecule identified that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical use in humans. “Unfortunately, most of the molecules discovered so far to boost tissue regeneration are also associated with cancer, limiting their potential as treatments for humans. Our quest is to find a molecule that not only rejuvenates old muscle and other tissue, but that can do so sustainably long-term without increasing the risk of cancer.”

The new study determined that in mice, blood levels of oxytocin declined with age. They also showed that there are fewer receptors for oxytocin in muscle stem cells in old versus young mice. To tease out oxytocin’s role in muscle repair, the researchers injected the hormone under the skin of old mice for four days, and then for five days more after the muscles were injured. After the nine-day treatment, they found that the muscles of the mice that had received oxytocin injections healed far better than those of a control group of mice without oxytocin. “The action of oxytocin was fast. The repair of muscle in the old mice was at about 80 percent of what we saw in the young mice.”

Interestingly, giving young mice an extra boost of oxytocin did not seem to cause a significant change in muscle regeneration. “This is good because it demonstrates that extra oxytocin boosts aged tissue stem cells without making muscle stem cells divide uncontrollably.” The researchers also found that blocking the effects of oxytocin in young mice rapidly compromised their ability to repair muscle, which resembled old tissue after an injury.